Let's Make This Night Last Forever
by SocialDegenerate
Summary: Sterek Campaign charity auction prompt fill: Sterek AU based on 'The First Time'. Derek has a girlfriend, Stiles is head over heels for Lydia, and yet nothing is simple when the pair meet at a party.
1. Friday

This is my first fic for the Sterek Campaign Charity Auction, which was won by elegantlydisastrous, who asked for an AU based on 'The First Time'. This is pre-slash, and it is only the first act of the film (because I don't have the time to do the rest of the movie right now, and I more than doubled my minimum word count already).

The title of this fic comes from Blink 182's 'First Date', because I had to listen to a lot of them while writing this in order to remember what it felt like to be in high school.

* * *

Derek really, _really_ didn't want to be at this party.

But no, Laura had bribed Erica and Boyd to have them essentially _drag _him there, only for the pair of them to disappear into the crowd with a few muttered threats about not going home without at least _talking_ to someone new. They made it sound like he was completely solitary and utterly unable to create human relationships; he totally _could_ do that, he just didn't particularly like it.

Especially after what had happened to Paige three years ago, which was something that Derek still didn't like talking about, even though he thought it was a perfectly viable reason to explain his reticence about dealing with humans.

Besides, he had Kate: beautiful, dangerous, _older_ Kate, who Derek actually sometimes forgot _was_ a human, with the way she seemed so animalistic at times. Maybe he struggled to imagine having a future with her, but she'd been persistent and he, despite popular opinion, liked to feel _wanted_. So although they had raging fights probably more than they should, and they often clashed about the most inconsequential of preferences, Derek thought he was doing okay.

But Erica and Boyd didn't particularly like Kate, and Laura _abhorred _her. The three of them were always pushing Derek to go out, to meet new people, probably hoping that he'd find someone 'better', even though Derek knew he was definitely punching above his weight when it came to his twenty-two year old girlfriend.

Not that he was likely to be able to meet anyone at this party anyway: the flashing lights the girl hosting the party had hired felt like fireworks going off right in his supernaturally-enhanced eyes, and although the music was _way_ too loud for his sensitive hearing, he could still hear the sounds of idiotic drunken teenagers vomiting in pot plants and having loud, sloppy sex.

He had to get out of there.

Pushing his way through the crowd of sweaty teenagers, none of whom Derek actually recognised due to the fact that the party host went to Beacon High instead of Beacon North like Derek did, he bailed out the front door and down the block. His ears were ringing so badly that he didn't hear the kid in the alley until he could actually see him: a guy around his age and his height, with shortish dark hair and a lean body that probably held more strength than it seemed.

He was muttering to himself, reading off the page he was holding in front of him as he paced across the alley.

"Your hair is red like the colour of my love for...oh god, that's fucking stupid...your eyes...the way you...fuck me, this reads like something a five-year-old would write...oh, um hi there!" Derek started slightly as the guy's light brown eyes looked directly into his own, cheeks flushing red with embarrassment at being caught doing...whatever it was he'd been doing.

Derek didn't reply, just sized the kid up as he tried to decide whether or not the other guy had some _serious_ problems.

"You come from the party?" The kid asked, jerking a thumb over his shoulder in the general direction of the house. "Oh, shit, I'm Stiles, by the way."

"Derek. And yes, but I just had to get out of there for a little while."

"Well, you're doing better than I am, haven't even managed to get myself inside yet. Though I did have a few pre-drinks at Scott's house, figured it'd be a good idea before I finally try to tell Lydia how I feel." Stiles waved the bit of paper in his hand around a bit, giving Derek the impression that it was some kind of love confession. Before he could say anything, though, the guy was starting to run his mouth again, heart beating almost unnaturally fast.

"I mean, she and Jackson finally broke up- or well, '_took a break'_, so I figure if there's any time for me to try getting past that jock dickbag, it'd be now. I've just been in love with her forever, y'know? I had this whole, like, five year plan worked out, but of _course _I go to some weird alternate universe school where the smartest girl is also the most popular girl, so naturally the captain of the lacrosse team is going to snatch away the only girl I've ever met who is smart enough to give me a run for my money...wow, that sounds bad...but honestly...oh fuck, I'm doing it again. Sorry, when I drink I get _way_ too chatty, and it's even worse when I'm nervous, and...sorry, sorry."

"...No problem..." Derek said slowly, still trying to process the barrage of information he'd just received about people he'd never meet and probably would never _want_ to meet.

"Anyway, you don't look to enthused about being here, dude. Girlfriend drag you here or something?" Stiles grinned, but his fingers were nervously folding and unfolding the paper in his hands, which was slowly getting wrinkled beyond all use.

Derek wasn't sure why he answered the question. Maybe it was the way Stiles seemed so naturally comfortable with him- a complete stranger- or the way his scent was so pleasant even under the tang of alcohol, fresh and natural without the sickening stench of Axe that so many teenage boys carried almost permanently.

"It was my friends and my sister who made me turn up. My girlfriend...well, she's older, so I can't see her being too interested in a high school party. Besides, she's a little...never mind." Luckily, Derek managed to avoid spilling everything out about his concerns with Kate, and Stiles didn't seem to want to push.

"Ah yes, the old drag 'n' ditch, hey? Gotta love it, or _not_. Actually, man, I wanna ask you a question. I get that you've probably never had this problem, but Lydia only sees me as a friend. I mean, we're close, we're _really_ close, just...not in the way I wanna be? And you don't look like you would have any trouble getting anyone you wanted, so do you have any tips you can give me on how to talk to Lydia? I'd really appreciate it, dude."

Derek blinked a little dumbly at Stiles, not quite sure where to go with that. As much as he knew that he was kind of good-looking, most of his (now former) friends had declared him a 'raging douchebag' after the whole Paige thing had made him shut down and stop smiling so much. Of course, they didn't know the whole story: they just thought she'd moved away with her parents, whom Derek's mom had somehow convinced to leave. So no one outside his family really spoke to him any more, except Erica, Boyd and Kate.

Plus he couldn't tell how serious Stiles was when he'd complimented Derek's looks. Werewolves didn't often have strong leanings towards one gender or another, due to the fact that they could pass their heritage and pack lines through the bite; but with the way Stiles was talking about this Lydia girl, he was probably as straight as humans came. He was a cute guy, but not only did Derek have a girlfriend, he knew how a lot of guys his age felt about being thought of as gay, meaning that Derek usually kept his own sexuality-related apathy under wraps.

Stiles was just some kid who'd had _way_ too much to drink, and probably had no idea what he was even saying.

Apparently Derek had stayed silent a little too long, lost inside his own thoughts, and Stiles stepped right up to him, waving a hand in his face. "Yo, dude, you alive in there? Sorry, I know I can be a bit overbearing sometimes, just tell me to shut up if you want to."

Despite himself, Derek felt the tiniest smirk appear on his lips. "it's fine. I just don't think I can help you, my girlfriend was the one who came after me."

"_Damn_," Stiles said, throwing his hands up in the air, the crumpled paper somehow staying in his grip. "If someone as hot as _you_ doesn't know how to pick up girls, then what hope do the rest of us have?"

Derek's heart skipped a little at that, but he put it down to the quickly-approaching sound of police sirens that he could hear under the last few words of Stiles' sentence. He barely remembered that he shouldn't warn Stiles about sounds no human could possibly hear, quickly shutting his mouth before he could give himself away.

Luckily, it didn't take long for some _way_ too drunk teenager to go tearing past, yelling his head off about cops and provoking _everyone _inside the house to come rushing out after him.

"Fuck!" Stiles yelled, turning to Derek with wide eyes. "My dad's the goddamn Sheriff, and if he catches me here I'm dead meat. You wanna get outta here?"

Shrugging, Derek took off down the alley after Stiles, only for the pair of them to barely avoid getting hit by a sleek sports car that pulled onto the road beside the alley's end, the vehicle screeching off with a burst of tyre smoke.

Stiles made a low whimpering sound and stopped stock-still, making Derek turn to him. "Was that..."

"Yeah," Stiles replied in a quiet voice as his gaze dropped to the ground. "That's Lydia Martin, strawberry-blonde goddess and all-round genius, sitting in the car of Jackson 'Fuck-Face' Whittemore. Guess they got back together again."

Derek really wasn't sure what the proper protocol was in this situation. Should he say sorry? Make some comment about how there was always next time?

"Hey, you guys are gonna get busted if you stand there all night! Get outta here!" Looking away from Stiles, Derek saw some kid waving at them as he sprinted down the street, and without even thinking he'd taken Stiles' forearm and was pulling him down the footpath at a fast walking pace.

He only stopped when they were far enough away from the party to claim plausible deniability, only then to realise that he was still holding onto Stiles' arm and dropping it like it had burnt him.

"Shiiiiit," Stiles groaned, one hand going to his stomach. "I think my pre-drinks were a bit excessive. I don't feel fantastic after that quick getaway."

Great, this was just what Derek needed. It didn't seem like Stiles was going to throw up, but Derek couldn't in good conscience leave the kid alone on the street. Erica and Boyd were probably long gone, because werewolf senses made it easy to stay away from noisy police sirens, and if Stiles had started drinking before the party, he probably hadn't driven himself there.

"Where do you live?" Derek's question must have seemed suspicious to Stiles, because the guy gave him a weird squinty-eyed look, complete with one raised eyebrow.

Rolling his eyes, Derek explained himself. "You're too drunk for me to leave you out here. If you're close, I can walk you home; if not, I'll call you a taxi."

Stiles' expression immediately transformed into a bright grin, and he rocked back and forth a little on the spot. "I'm only a couple of blocks away. Thanks, dude."

"Lead the way."

As they walked, Stiles barely seemed to take a breath as he chattered away; Derek didn't find much of window to contribute to the conversation, but he wasn't a big talker and Stiles didn't seem to find that a problem.

"Oh man, I can't wait to go to college, hopefully somewhere really far away from this town...I think I'm gonna go into teaching, y'know? Not high school, because fucking hell, I don't think I could ever put up with teenagers every day for the rest of my working life, but, like, early schooling. Kindergarten would be fun, wouldn't it be awesome to get to teach the really young kids? To start moulding them into good human beings, into people their parents can be proud of. I just think that's something that's really important, 'cause I mean, with my dad being the Sheriff I've seen a lot of people go off the rails, and I'd like to think that a good teacher and a good education can maybe stop that downward spiral."

Derek made a noise of agreement, glancing sideways to see Stiles grinning widely at him, his whole face lighting up and looking like one of the most beautiful things Derek had ever seen.

Kate never looked like that. She smiled seductively, cockily, like she knew something no one else did; but she never smiled with pure, unadulterated joy the way Stiles did. But even if she was a bit distant sometimes, she was still Derek's girlfriend and he felt a little bit guilty about comparing her to Stiles, a virtual stranger whom he'd randomly met in an alley.

"-And so then I was like...Oh, hang on, here's my house. Look dude, thanks so much for everything, probably a good thing that my dad didn't see me stumbling around the streets alone."

"Yeah...no problem," Derek nodded, looking up at the two-storey house that seemed to be purely middle class, not too new but not too old. The only car in the driveway was a beat-up blue Jeep, and Derek thought he vaguely remembered seeing it driving around town a few times.

The awkward silence stretched on a little bit, Derek wondering why he wasn't just leaving and Stiles looking like he was debating whether to say something. It was starting to get to Derek, and so he decided that it was probably time for him to go home.

"Alright, I guess I'm just going to-"

"Um...would you mind if I could-"

Derek smiled a little when Stiles laughed at their mutual awkwardness, but it dropped when Stiles took a step closer to him. The boy was almost completely in his personal space now, and if Derek was reading the atmosphere correctly, Stiles was going to try and kiss him.

Derek wasn't entirely sure he wanted to stop that from happening.

Looking up, he met Stiles' slightly unfocused gaze, his heart starting to pound a little from the pure _want_ he could see there. He wouldn't have been surprised to learn that the same look was reflected in his own eyes, a strange shock of feeling after so many years of being _numb _that was only getting stronger the more Stiles stared at him.

"Can I get your number?"

The question seemed to come out of nowhere, prompting Derek to take a step back as he tried to ignore the way his heart felt like it had dropped into his feet. "Yeah...yeah, just give me your phone."

Grinning again, Stiles started to reach into his back pocket, only to stop short before he could get out his phone.

"Y'know what? My dad won't be back until the morning. You want to come in for a while?"

Derek _knew_ it was a bad idea. He _knew_ that it was terrible for him to enter some random stranger's house, even if that stranger was the son of the county Sheriff.

Even more so, he should have known better than to willingly enter an intimate situation with one of the most fascinating, beautiful creatures he'd ever seen, when he had a _girlfriend _and when the other boy was _drunk_.

But, if after a few more drinks and a lot more conversation, Derek ended up falling asleep wrapped around Stiles, his chest to the younger man's back and his mind feeling settled for the first time in a long time, then no one else needed to know about it.

He'd figure out what to do with Kate another day.


	2. Saturday (Part One)

Stiles woke up to the sound of the front door slamming shut, his father clearly not trying too hard to be quiet as he arrived home from work. Starting to sit up in his bed, Stiles froze when he realised that there was a strong arm wrapped around his waist, and a warm (but fully-clothed) body pressed up against the back of him.

There may have also been something suspiciously solid pressing into his lower back, but Stiles could only handle one shock at a time, and right now he needed to think through the haze of his hangover and _get this guy out of the house before his dad killed him_.

Forcibly shoving the arm off him and stumbling out of bed, Stiles looked down into the alarmed eyes of the guy who'd walked him home last night. There were vague memories of Stiles asking Derek to stay with him, but the details were pretty fuzzy in his mind and there wasn't time for him to figure it out right now.

"Hello, good morning, whatever. Look, dude, you _have to go_. My dad's home, and it probably won't be good if he comes in here and finds you in my bed."

Derek moved with surprising swiftness for someone who'd just woken up, and Stiles couldn't help but take a moment to be jealous of the surprisingly graceful way such a muscular person could move.

"Sorry...I didn't mean to fall asleep." Derek even _looked _too good to have just woken up, and under any other circumstances Stiles would probably be praising the gods for putting him in such close contact with such a gorgeous guy.

But as he watched Derek head towards the window, he clearly remembered Derek telling him about his girlfriend: his older, presumably beautiful girlfriend who was probably everything that Stiles wasn't. From outside the room, Stiles heard the tell-tale noise of his father hitting the squeaky step about halfway up the staircase, and all other thoughts flew out of his head as he slipped past Derek to shove open the window.

"_Go, go, go_," Stiles hissed under his breath, waving Derek through the open window; the other guy didn't say anything as he climbed out, only taking a second to look back at Stiles and give a slight nod before stepping onto the first-storey roof jutting out under Stiles' room, then slipping to the ground and disappearing down the street.

There was a knock on Stiles' door, and he flailed around a little bit before quietly dropping onto his bed, grabbing the book from the nightstand and opening it to a random page as he tried to look as casual as possible.

"Come in!"

"Hey, kid," John Stilinski said as he opened the door and stuck his head in the room, glancing down at the book in Stiles' hands before smiling at him. "How was your night?"

"Not too bad, just hung out at Scott's and played Halo. Y'know, the usual." Stiles really hoped his smile looked innocent, but he was fairly certain his dad believed him anyway. "What about you? Anything exciting happen?"

The Sheriff rolled his eyes, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest. "The usual Friday night stuff: a few high school parties to break up, a couple of drunk and disorderlies and Mr Franklin calling in six times because he kept thinking people were stealing his garden gnomes."

"Sounds exciting," Stiles grinned, his dad mirroring the expression as he pushed away from the doorframe.

"You know it. I picked up some breakfast, so come down if you wanna eat." John left the room, but just as Stiles went to breathe a sigh of relief, his dad's head reappeared from beyond the doorframe. "Oh, and just so you know, your book's upside down."

"...I realised that," Stiles said defensively as he threw the book down, frowning at the way he could still hear his father's laughter fading down the hallway.

* * *

"So what you're telling me is, you went to the party last night to try and get with Lydia, and ended up getting with some random guy instead?"

"Jesus, Isaac, that's not even _close_ to what happened!" Stiles shoved the end of his straw into his mouth, worrying it with his teeth as he frowned at Isaac and then at Scott as his supposed best friend started laughing.

"But you _want_ to get with him, right? I mean, he slept in your bed, didn't he?" Scott leant back, getting comfortable in their usual diner booth and taking a swig from his Coke. "What'd you say his name was?"

"Derek. I...don't actually know what his last name is, but I guess it's not important. He has a girlfriend anyway, so it doesn't really matter if I think he's hot like a sunrise. Just another person to go in the 'unattainable' file, really." Sighing, Stiles leant forward, pillowing his head on his arms as he practically collapsed onto the table.

Isaac snorted, condescendingly patting Stiles on the head. "If it makes you feel any better, there probably was no girlfriend in the first place. Guy was probably just saying that so that you'd go away."

Stiles really wasn't sure why he was even friends with Isaac.

"He's just joking, Stiles," Scott reassured. "Did you at least get a phone number?"

Snapping his head up, Stiles broke into a massive grin, fumbling his phone out of his pocket. "Hell _yes _I got his...Oh, fuck, _fuck_..."

Quickly opening his contacts, Stiles flicked straight to 'D', only to let out an anguished groan when he remembered how much of an idiot he was when he was drunk. "I was about to get his number, then I invited him in, and then I totally forgot..."

Just to be sure, he carefully went through his entire contact list, but there was no one in there who could even possibly be Derek under a nickname.

"Why do you even care so much? You're still in love with Lydia, so it's not even like this guy matters." Isaac really wasn't helping Stiles _at all_, and he made a mental note to never invite the guy anywhere ever again.

"But he was gorgeous, and he didn't talk much but when he did, he was interesting and surprisingly sarcastic and he walked me home and _he_ _spooned me_." Stiles sighed, ran a hand through his hair and then promptly slumped back onto the table, barely avoiding landing face-first into his plate of greasy hangover food.

Just as Stiles was quietly bemoaning his utter lack of game, though, his knight in shining armour (usually known as Scott) opened his mouth and came out with one of the best ideas Stiles had ever heard- and considering that Stiles himself was usually the ideas guy, that was definitely saying something.

"You said he was a senior at Beacon North, right? They only have a couple of hundred students there, maybe Danny can get into their systems and find out how many Dereks go there. You might at least get a last name, and that'll be a start."

Slowly looking up at his best friend, Stiles reached out and grabbed one of Scott's hands with his own. "Scott McCall, you are a _genius_ and I think we should get married."

Isaac shook his head in mock despair, and Scott let out a bright laugh, smiling crookedly. "Don't get too ahead of yourself, buddy. If you marry me, we'd have to get divorced before you could marry either Lydia or Derek, and I just don't think that'd be fair on our kids."

"...As per usual, you make a great point. Don't worry, Isaac, mommy and daddy are gonna stay together, so there's no need to start figuring out which one of us you'd rather live with." Stiles had to quickly lean backwards to avoid Isaac's swinging arm, and he flashed his friend a grin.

"Fuck off, Stilinski. Just call Danny so we don't have to listen to your bitching any more."

"Feeling the love, dude, feeling the love." Grabbing his phone from where he'd dropped it on the table, Stiles quickly opened his contact entry for Danny, hoping that his sort-of-friend would be in a giving mood.

"Yes, Stiles?" Danny already sounded half done with the conversation, which Stiles really didn't get. He'd only asked Danny if he was attractive to gay guys a few times, back when he was trying to figure out exactly how bisexual he was.

It hadn't been _that_ annoying, right?

"Oh Danny, light of my life, computer genius and all-around fantastic guy..."

"No."

"You don't even know what I was going to ask!" Stiles flipped off Isaac, who was cracking up laughing on the other side of the booth.

Danny sighed, "I told you before, I'm not pretending to date you to make Lydia jealous. You _do_ remember that Jackson's my best friend, right?"

"I was joking!" Stiles exclaimed. That was...sort of true. He'd never actually thought that Danny would go for the idea, but hey, it'd been worth a shot.

"Uh-huh."

"Look, I just need a little favour. I'll give you fifty bucks to get into the Beacon North school records and look someone up for me."

Danny was silent, and just as Stiles was beginning to give up hope, a resigned sigh filtered through the line. "Make it a hundred, and I'll see what I can do. How much info do you need?"

"Danny, you're a goddamn lifesaver and I'll love you forever if you can just get me info on any seniors called Derek who go to B North."

"Seriously, Stiles? Can you give me anything more than that to go on? Why do you even need me to...y'know what? I don't wanna even ask. A hundred bucks, but no guarantees that I can get you anything usable."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Stiles quickly said his goodbyes before Danny could change his mind, dropping the phone back on the table and raising both hands in victory. "I fucking _love_ that guy!"

Scott rolled his eyes.

"You're hopeless, Stiles."

* * *

It was only about an hour later, not too long after Stiles had gotten home, that his phone went off with a call from Danny. "Please, _please_ tell me you've got good news for me, Danny boy."

"Looks like you're in luck, there's only one Derek who goes to that school. Derek Hale, no cell number listed, but there is a home number if you want that."

Stiles nearly tripped over his own feet in his rush to grab a pen and a scrap of paper, carefully copying down the number that Danny reeled off for him and then repeating it back twice. He was making sure there were definitely no mistakes, okay?

Danny hung up on him when Stiles was in the middle of a long-winded thank you, leaving Stiles looking down at the phone in his hands. He was pretty sure the slight shake to his hands was just residual energy from sitting still for too long, and certainly not because _he had it_.

He had gotten himself Derek Hale's number- and his last name, incidentally. Because he was never one to think things through particularly well before he did them, it never even occurred to Stiles that calling Derek's home phone when Derek hadn't given him that number was a little creepy.

"Pick up, c'mon," Stiles muttered, listening to the call try to connect; it rang six times before someone picked up.

"Hello?" A female voice said, making Stiles sit up straight.

"Hey...I mean, hi! I'm looking for Derek? This is the Hales, right?" Stiles cringed at how stupid he sounded, but it wasn't like he could take it back now.

"What do you want with my brother?" The woman- Derek's sister, apparently- sounded suspicious and more than a little threatening. Stiles was pretty taken aback, but he pushed through it.

"I'm a friend of his...look, can I talk to him or not?"

The woman scoffed. "Derek has all of two friends, and unless Boyd suddenly regressed back to pre-pubescence or Erica got a sex change, I don't think you're either of them."

"C'mon, just-"

"Alright, you can talk to him, but we've got caller ID so now I've got _your_ number, and if you're one of those fuckwits from his school who still thinks this shit is funny, then I'll find out who you are."

Obviously there was a lot going on that Stiles had no idea about, but he could hear the phone being passed around and he breathed a sigh of relief when the next voice he heard _definitely_ wasn't Derek's terrifying sister.

"...Hello?"

"Derek, hi!" Stiles couldn't help the grin that broke out across his face- Danny had _definitely_ earned the money Stiles had sunk into him.

"_Stiles?_ How did you...hang on." Stiles could hear footsteps, and then the sound of a door closing. "This _is_ Stiles, right?"

"Yeah, uh, hi," Stiles replied, the thought finally occurring to him that the phone call might have seemed a little strange from Derek's point of view.

"...How did you get this number?"

_Shit_. "My, uh, friend had it. Look, I was just wondering if you were doing anything tonight?" Stiles wasn't exactly one to beat around the bush, even when his heart was starting to pound from nerves.

"Actually, I am," Derek slowly replied, still sounding pretty hesitant. "I'm going to the cinema with Kate...my girlfriend."

Stiles felt like the biggest idiot in the universe. Of _course _Derek's girlfriend was real, and even if she wasn't, why the hell would Derek want to go out with him anyway? Last night hadn't meant anything, Derek was just trying to be a decent guy and help out a stupid, drunk kid.

Pulling himself together, Stiles tried to play things off by laughing. "Oh hey, that's what Scott, Isaac and I were planning to do! Maybe we'll see you there, and I can meet this mysterious older woman."

"I...I'd like that," Derek said, and Stiles might have been mistaken, but he actually sounded _genuine._

Smiling, Stiles bounced a little on his bed, happy that Derek didn't seem to want to accuse him of stalking. "Awesome! Well, I guess that's everything, so I'll maybe see you tonight?"

"Yeah. Oh, and Stiles?"

"Huh?"

"Sorry about what Laura said. She's a little...overprotective."

"Don't worry about it. Bye, Derek."

"Bye."

If anyone had asked, Stiles definitely wasn't doing a little victory dance around his room. Okay, so maybe Derek had a girlfriend, but Lydia wasn't single either, so he wasn't going to let a little thing like _that_ bring him down. Besides, Derek hadn't completely shut him down, and that was always a good sign.

Eventually managing to calm himself down, Stiles immediately dialled a conference call with Scott and Isaac: he _definitely _had to convince them to go to the movies with him tonight.


	3. Saturday (Part Two)

Just a heads up that Kate and Allison aren't related in this story.

* * *

When Derek walked into the cinema complex, Kate's arm uncomfortably tight around his waist, the first thing he heard was a voice that shouldn't have been as familiar as it was. Looking up, he quickly picked out Stiles' scent among the crowd of people milling around the foyer, seeing the boy standing in a small group with four other people.

"Let's go buy tickets before the line gets any longer," Kate said, breaking Derek out of his reverie. She started to head off towards the ticket booth, her arm around Derek's waist trying to tug him along with her, but he resisted the pull and gestured over to Stiles' group.

"Just a minute, I see a guy I know so I'm going to say hi quickly." Kate rolled her eyes and sighed in disgust, but let go of him and stomped along as he walked over to Stiles. "Hey."

Stiles whirled around, eyes lighting up as he looked at Derek. "Oh, hey! Good to see you, dude."

"You too," Derek nodded, turning slightly to bring Kate up next to him. "Stiles, this is my girlfriend, Kate."

Stiles greeted Kate with what seemed a little like exaggerated politeness, a courtesy that Kate didn't bother extending back as she silently sized the guy up. Stiles looked momentarily shocked, but he covered it fairly well as he gestured to the people around him. "This is Scott, my best friend, and my other friends, Isaac, Allison and Lydia."

Derek nodded politely at each person in turn, trying not to stare as he took in as much as he could about the fabled Lydia Martin. Honestly, he could sort of see why Stiles liked her so much: she was a pale redhead with incredibly pretty features, and she exuded an air of confidence that was undoubtedly attractive. She didn't show any shame as she slowly looked Derek up and down, and he couldn't help but feel like he'd passed some kind of test when she smiled at him.

"So what're you guys going to see?" Stiles rocked back and forth on his heels, eyes wide with curiosity. Derek opened his mouth to reply, only to be cut off by Kate.

"We're seeing the French film, _Les Cousins Dangereux__._ I'd ask you to join us, but somehow I'm guessing you'd prefer to wait until Hollywood inevitably does a terrible remake _without _the subtitles." Derek stared at Kate, shocked by her open rudeness; then again, he really shouldn't have been surprised. She was just like that sometimes.

"Actually," Lydia replied in the tone of someone who had just been issued a challenge, "That's exactly what we were planning on seeing."

Derek quirked an eyebrow, easily hearing Isaac's quiet sigh and turning to Stiles for clarification. The boy shrugged his shoulders, looking at Lydia with cartoon hearts nearly bursting out of his eyes. "Lydia's been speaking French practically since before she was speaking English- it's one of like six languages she knows- and Allison's family is French, so she's pretty good at it too. Honestly, I just think Lydia wants to pick on any errors in the subtitles."

"Well maybe if they hired some translators who _aren't_ total idiots, more people would be interested in foreign films." Pulling a small compact out of her handbag, Lydia set about checking for any flaws in her make-up; Derek wasn't sure why she was bothering, as he could barely see any issues even with his supernatural eyesight.

Stiles lightly jabbed Derek's stomach with his elbow, leaning in close and whispering, "Told you she was a genius."

"Yeah," Derek replied, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. Stiles wasn't even _trying_ to hide his lovestruck admiration for Lydia, although no one else even reacted to it. Had Stiles been gone on her for so long that everyone was just _used_ to it? Actually, now that Derek took the time to notice, there was a resigned feeling in the air, an odd sensation emanating from Scott and Isaac that seemed to say yes, Stiles being utterly awestruck by Lydia was something that probably happened several times a day.

Beneath that, though, was the sheer hostility he could feel radiating from Kate. It wasn't unusual for her to be unhappy about something, but this seemed a _lot_ worse than normal. She was presumably angry about someone in Stiles' little group, and this suspicion seemed confirmed as she grabbed Derek's arm and started to pull him away.

Before he let himself be led, Derek turned to Stiles and assured him that they'd meet his group in the cinema, trying to ignore the flutter in his stomach from the bright grin he got in return.

He had a girlfriend. He was _happy_ with his girlfriend.

And he definitely didn't want to get closer to this boy he barely even _knew_.

* * *

Of course, no amount of repetitions of those phrases stopped the brutal curl of jealousy deep in his gut that pulsed every time Lydia leant in to whisper something in Stiles' ear during the film. Derek couldn't tell exactly what was being said over the pounding in his ears, but Stiles grinned and attempted to stifle his laughter after each and every little thing Lydia said.

Derek couldn't have recalled a single minute of the film that was playing, his attention unwavering from the pair sitting in the row in front of him; the language he couldn't even understand was just background noise at this point.

The final straw came when Lydia pressed herself right up against Stiles' side, wrapping her arms around one of his and resting her head on his shoulders. The smell of Stiles' lust was suffocating Derek so much that he abruptly jumped to his feet, ignoring Kate telling him to sit down and stomping out of the theatre.

He collapsed onto one of the benches that littered the foyer of the complex, pressing the heels of his hands to his temples and forcing himself to breathe in the scent of stale popcorn. He had no right to care about Stiles and Lydia, and if anything he should have been happy that the boy might have finally been getting the girl he'd wanted for so long.

Derek was disgusted with himself: for begrudging Stiles his happiness, for being so bitter towards a girl he didn't even know, and most of all for being unable to stop staring at a guy while his own girlfriend was right there next to him. He was the worst boyfriend ever, and he damn well knew it.

Derek only drew himself back to reality when a familiarly pleasant scent washed over him, a frenetic heartbeat somehow managing to calm his own. He didn't bother looking up as Stiles sat down next to him, feeling Stiles' arm briefly brush against his own as the boy settled onto the bench.

"You okay, dude?" Stiles asked, concern obvious in his voice. Derek finally looked at the guy next to him, forcing a small smile onto his face for Stiles' benefit.

"Yeah, just have a bit of a headache."

"Ugh, I hear ya, man. I'm _way_ too hyperactive to sit and concentrate on subtitles for a long time, so sometimes I just need a break. Anyway, look, I just wanted to say sorry for making you jump out the window this morning. You didn't hurt yourself or anything, did you?"

Of course, Stiles had no way to know that a jump like that wasn't enough to harm Derek, so the werewolf just shook his head, hearing Stiles sigh in relief.

"Dunno how you did it, but I'm glad you're fine. I probably would've brained myself or at least broken a few bones doing something like that, so it's a good thing you're clearly more co-ordinated than I am. Then again, that's not really difficult, considering how often I trip over things that aren't even there."

Clumsiness shouldn't have been so attractive, and the same went for the reminder that Stiles was human, _breakable_. But there was just something utterly alluring about the awkward charm that Stiles put out, his cheerful openness so different from Kate's seductive darkness. Seeing the pair of them together had only made the differences that much clearer for Derek, and he couldn't help but imagine himself dating Stiles.

He probably wouldn't dread the thought of having Stiles around his family, and his mother would probably try to adopt the boy as her new son. The underlying worry he always felt about keeping Kate happy probably wouldn't happen if he were dating Stiles, and Erica and Boyd would definitely welcome him into their little group.

The feeling of a finger jabbing into his cheek had Derek jerking back in shock, his hand coming up to sit over the spot Stiles had just touched.

The other guy grinned at him, his expression practically lighting up the whole foyer. "Sorry if I'm boring you, I told you that I babble. Just warn me before you fall asleep with your eyes open, yeah?"

"No, that wasn't what I-..."

"I'm just kidding, dude. Oh, and hey, can I have your cell number? Realised I never got it yesterday, and, uh, yeah..." Stiles' cheeks flushed a little, and he looked down at the ground; Derek felt a flare of hope that maybe Stiles _did_ like him, but the accompanying guilt ate the feeling away pretty quickly.

Still, not even that was enough to make Derek refuse the phone Stiles held out to him, and he dutifully typed out his number, handing it back and purposely not looking at what Stiles named the contact entry.

Soon enough, Derek's phone went off, and he saw a new text from an unknown number. The message just read, '_you wanna go to a party tonight?_', and Derek looked over at Stiles.

"A party?"

Stiles smiled again, gently punching Derek on the shoulder. "Don't sound so enthusiastic! Yeah, after this we're all going to a party at some girl's house, someone Allison and Lydia know." The smile grew brittle, faked as he added, "Kate's totally welcome to come too, there's gonna be plenty of college students there."

If anything, it was Stiles' obvious reluctance about Kate that made him want to turn down the invitation: there was no reason to ruin Stiles' night by making him feel uncomfortable. He opened his mouth to decline, but the words wouldn't come out when Stiles' hand landed on Derek's shoulder, the weight calming and oh-so-wrongfully enticing.

"Please, Derek? I want to get to know you, and I promise it'll be fun." Looking into Stiles' warm, hopeful eyes, Derek felt his resolve melt.

"I'll talk to Kate."

Stiles held up his hands, palms outward, and laughed happily. "That's all I'm asking, dude."

Derek smiled back, small and unsure, and something electric seemed to pass between them. Stiles shifted on the bench, and Derek wondered if he was just getting comfortable or if there was some other intention behind the movement.

It didn't matter, though, as Derek heard an angry yell of his name, accompanied by Kate's distinctively heavy footsteps. She could move almost silently when she wanted to, but when she was mad, there was no mistaking the purposeful fall of her shoes.

"Derek, I'd appreciate it if you could bring yourself to even _pretend_ like you're enjoying our time together." She didn't even glance at Stiles, her narrowed eyes and hissed words directed solely at Derek, and he hung his head in shame.

He could hear Stiles' quiet, sharp inhale of breath, and he didn't want to look at the expression on the boy's face, so he kept his eyes trained on Kate as he stood up and followed her back into the theatre, quietly apologising.

Before he went through the cinema doors, he chanced a quick look back at Stiles, where he was sitting on the bench, barely even moving, and staring down at his hands.


End file.
